Current weather

Fox Creek fire remaining quiet

The Fox Creek Fire on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge below Tustumena Lake has been quiet for the past few days, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry.

The lightning-caused fire, which put thick smoke in many Kenai Peninsula communities since it began July 11, is being monitored from the air and ground by forestry and refuge workers.

Fire crews have made certain everything on the first 10 to 15 feet of a blackened line at the north and west edges of the burn area is cold, according to fire prevention assistant Patrick Quiner.

The procedure, called "cold-trailed," also has been done in a gateway section to the fire area leading into the Caribou Hills, he said.

Although fire crews are no longer based on scene in the fire area, forestry and refuge officials continue to monitor the fire's activity from the air and will land when it is safe to do so, to do additional monitoring from the ground.

Quiner said the Kenai fire crew is on standby at or near the Division of Forestry office on the Sterling Highway in Soldotna.

The Fox Creek Fire has consumed 25,189 acres, much of which is beetle-killed spruce.